Weekly Recap: 2 Weeks Until the Boston Marathon

The taper is underway! This was a real cutback week, after many months of 60+ mile weeks.

It’s also been quite a full year of marathoning; this is marathon #5 in just 10 months: Idaho (3:52), Fargo (3:42), Tulsa (4:04), and Baton Rouge (3:45).

Here’s how things went this week in training for the Boston marathon!

Monday: I was working from home this day, so I ran 4 miles with Ruth over lunch, 8:30 min/mile average.

We ran by a bald eagle that was perched pretty low in a tree. I tried to get Ruth to look at it, but she paid it no attention. She’s so quirky- the other day she freaked out about a hornet’s nest in a tree, but yet doesn’t care about a huge bird so close!

After work, I did 10 min of core + 30 min of upper body on the Peloton app.

Ruth was my supervisor, keeping me accountable for the strength training!

One of the upper classes I took this day was the Chase Tucker class that Coco posted about that tricks you into doing 100 push-ups! The push-ups are broken up into sets of 10, with other exercises in between. I was proud of myself for doing all 100, even though they definitely were not perfect form by the end!

I even convinced Dustin to take it the next day to see if he could do 100 pushups (he could, though he admitted it was a challenging class) I thought my chest would be really sore the next day- surprisingly, it wasn’t.

Tuesday: Workout Tuesday! 3 mile warm-up, then 4 sets of (7 minutes at marathon effort followed by 3 minutes faster, recover for 4 minutes), cool-down to 10.5 miles total, 9:10 min/mile average.

I wore ALL the reflective gear for this early morning workout! (All from the Oiselle firecracker collection!)

Can’t miss Jessie!

After work: 10 min core, 10 min arms (with Tunde, my favorite Peloton instructor for arms & light weights.)

Wednesday: I was supposed to meet my friend Isabelle at 5:30 am, but when my alarm went off, it was POURING and really crazy windy- just not a great morning for a run. So I cancelled on Isabelle, snoozed a little bit, then ran 4 miles on the treadmill before heading into the office.

After work, I ran another 4 miles outside with Ruth- it was only slightly raining at that point.

4 miles treadmill: 9 min/mile 4 miles outside with Ruth: 8:30 min/mile = 8 miles total for the day.

I followed the evening run with 10 min core, 30 min “full body strength,” and 10 min barre on the Peloton app. Since I went right from a cold rainy run to strength training without showering or changing to warmup, my Raynaud’s syndrome in my hands was really bad.

Rainy, chilly days are the worst for the zombie fingers!

It doesn’t really hurt, my fingers just go numb and it looks creepy. One of my running friends gets it on her feet too; I only get it on my hands. It’s very common for women my age in colder climates like Minnesota, and generally isn’t something to be too concerned about. I did run my hands under warm water for 10 minutes to try to get them back to normal before continuing with my strength training.

Thursday: 7.2 miles with friends before work, 9:25 min/mile average, rainy and cold again. Where is spring?

Friday: Rest day from running! There were dog walks of course and 10 min of core on the Peloton app + 40 minutes of upper body.

Saturday: “Long” run- just 11 miles! Only slightly longer than my workout on Tuesday. 8:58 min/mile average. It was 29 degrees when I walked out the door, but the sun was out and there wasn’t much wind. I knew it would warm up quickly, so out the door in shorts and a long sleeve! Only a Minnesotan, right?

I ran with a few friends, returned home, and took the dogs out for a walk. Of course, Dustin snuck up on us as he was finishing his run (and snapped this photo for me.)

10 min of core on the Peloton app.

It was such a nice day that we headed to a huge dog park in the suburbs to let Ruth and Matilda run around some more for about an hour.

Then, I got my hair done in the late afternoon.

I’m so sad that my gal is leaving the business. She got a great job opportunity in a completely different field, so of course, I’m happy for her, but sad for me, haha!

I’ve been going to her for at least 15 years- she did my hair and make up for my wedding in 2008. We both got pretty choked up when we hugged goodbye. So much shared over so many years.

Now I have to find someone new…local readers, please send me your recommendations!

Sunday: 6.3 mile run with Dustin and Ruth, 8:50 min/mile average, then daily 10 min of core. A full Sunday ahead with a little baby shower + spring party later today.

Summary: 47 miles of running, daily core, a mix of strength on the Peloton app, lots of dog walks.

I mentioned last week that I always stress about getting sick before a marathon, particularly one like Boston that costs a lot of money (between registration, flight, hotel, etc.)

I’ve been taking this immunity shot daily to help boost my immune system. I don’t know if it actually does anything, but I’m here for the placebo affect, ha!

Also, remember how I’ve been having trouble with widening feet with age?

I purchased some shoe stretchers from Amazon to try to salvage my non-running shoes. I don’t know how well they are working on fabric type shoes (like Rothy’s or Allbirds, which are two of my favorite brands) though they seem to work on leather shoes. I also have an appointment with a podiatrist to make sure I know exactly what’s going on with my feet but that appointment isn’t until after Boston.

And finally, I caved and purchased a few Boston related items pre-race (hopefully not bad luck!)

The one on the right is from Tracksmith and the one on the left is from Rabbit. I don’t know that I will wear either for the actual race (will probably stick with something that’s been tried and tested) but fun to have for later in the summer. The Tracksmith one in particular is very light and will be great for hot summer runs!

And that’s a wrap! I’m linking up as always with Running on the Fly and Confessions of a Mother Runner as part of their Weekly Rundown. Check it out!